I’m back from the tournament grind and glad to be at my desk after playing in our Section Championship.
Congratulations to Todd Smith of Rock Hollow in Peru, Ind., on capturing the 2009 Indiana Club Professional Championship last week at French Lick. The courses proved to be very difficult, and the Ross course has some very tricky greens. The last two rounds of the tournament were played on the new and very demanding Pete Dye Course at French Lick.
As for my play, it all came down again to putting. I hit the ball well from tee to green but only made one medium-length putt that I shouldn’t have. I have not tallied how many putts I had for the tournament, but it was a lot. For the three rounds, I think I three-putted about eight times, most of them from under 30 feet and not that difficult.
The course got to a lot of people because it is very visually intimidating. It is very long and the greens are not overly large, but it is very difficult to get the ball close to the hole. The scores were a bit higher than I expected, but I was happy with my ball hitting.
Nevertheless, I ended up finishing tied for 21st, not bad for a senior , but I didn’t qualify for the National Club Pro Championship next June. My next big event will be the Senior Club Professional Championship qualifier in September at Harbor Trees in Noblesville, Ind.
Congratulations also go out to Jack Barber, the head professional at Meridian Hills Country Club here in Indianapolis, as he was named the National PGA Professional of the Year by the PGA of America.
Speaking of the PGA, how about Tiger not winning the PGA last weekend? I would have lost my house and everything else if I could have bet on him winning.
I must say that Tiger was very classy in his post-tournament interviews as he said that Yang played very well and did all the right things to win. Tiger went on to say that he hit the ball extremely well and just had a horrible day of putting.
Sounds so familiar!
It just goes to show that no matter how good you hit the ball, it is all about putting. So I am going to do some practice putting drills and work hard to get ready for the Senior Professional Championship coming up after Labor Day.
Keep checking the Web site here at the Brickyard as we get ready for Labor Day weekend. Now that the days are getting shorter, Twilight Golf will move up an hour, to 3 p.m., after Labor Day.
We will have pretty busy couple of weeks leading up to Labor Day as the Red Bull Indianapolis GP MotoGP race comes to the Speedway Aug. 28-30. If you didn’t see these guys on the bikes go around here last year, you need to check it out. It is crazy how fast they go and how low they lean the bikes over in the corners, and the only thing protecting them is their specially made leather uniforms.
Over Labor Day weekend, we will participate in Patriot Golf Day here at the Brickyard. We will ask golfers to donate $1 to the Folds of Honor foundation to help families of our service men and women who have lost their lives in the fight for freedom around the world.
This is a very worthwhile cause in which the PGA of America and its Play Golf America programs endorse. They really are the leaders for this cause. For more information on the Folds of Honor and Patriot Golf Day, visit www.patriotgolfday.com.
School has started here in Indiana, and that means fall is just around the corner. There still are beautiful golf days ahead, so don’t put up the clubs. Get out hit some range balls and book a time here at the beautiful Brickyard Crossing.
Jeff Schroeder
PGA Head Professional
Brickyard Crossing
Tiger wins again at Firestone. Tiger Woods came back from missing the cut at the British Open and played in the last Buick-sponsored event on Tour and wins. Then he goes to Akron, Ohio, home of Firestone CC, and wins the Bridgestone Invitational, which is one of the World Championships.
He basically ripped Warwick Hills apart after an opening round of 71 and talk of a second straight missed cut. He fired 63-65-69 to dust everyone off and moved to Firestone, where he beats Paddy Harrington on the 16th hole of the last round with a birdie to Paddy’s triple bogey after a slow play warning. The slow play warning on the group was actually issued by a European official.
Now Tiger is at the last major of the year, the PGA. The PGA is being played at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minn. Tiger is major-less since the U.S. Open in 2008. What are the odds he wins? Hazeltine will play at – are you ready for this? – 7,674 yards. That’s right over 7,600 yards for a major championship.
How long must golf courses be to hold a major event? The great old venues of yesteryear are now obsolete. Courses like Merion, where Ben Hogan won, are no longer considered for a major. I have to agree with Pete Dye that equipment and technology have made most courses obsolete. Some courses would have to spend millions in renovations to be even considered for a tournament. Our golf course is listed at 6,995 yards from the back tees, and if we moved pins and tees around it would be well over 7,200. After just having the Indiana State Open here, it is obvious that our course, which is 15 years old, is somewhat short compared to the distance that players hit it today.
With that, let’s move onto some other golf items such as the “summer break” that the LPGA is on right now. The last time the ladies played in the U.S. was July 12, which was the Women’s U.S. Open. The next event here for them is the Solheim Cup in Chicago. The LPGA definitely is hurting, and next year is not looking real strong for that tour as it fights to keep tournaments and sponsors. Just like all golf tours, the economy is hurting the LPGA as corporate America watches its image and spending.
Another item coming up at the end of the month that I am going to touch on is Patriot Golf Day. It is a very noble charity that was started by Major Dan Rooney, a PGA professional and fighter pilot. You can visit the Web site at www.patriotgolfday.com and learn more. We will talk more about this as the event nears on Labor Day weekend.
This coming week, the Indiana Professionals Championship will be played at the French Lick Resort. It is a 54-hole tournament that will be played on the Donald Ross and Pete Dye courses at French Lick. We will play 18 on the Ross and 36 on the Dye.
Remember, the Dye course can play over 8,000 yards. We will probably play it at about 6,800-6,900 (I hope!). Posted in this blog are a few photos from my last visit there in June.
This event is a qualifier for the National Club Professional, which happens next June at French Lick. There will probably be about seven spots or less for the tournament. I have been fortunate enough to play in two National Club Pros and one regional Club Pro in my career. I hope to add another one this year along with a Senior Club Professional Championship spot in September.
It’s time to go hit a few balls and get prepared for next week. Brickyard Crossing is in championship condition, and tee times are available daily. Visit us online and be sure to keep checking our Web sites for information concerning the Brickyard and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Jeff Schroeder
PGA Head Professional
Brickyard Crossing
After my last blog, I got back into doing some practicing and also went down to French Lick to play Pete Dye’s new monster course. But before that happened, I had a little injury problem that had to be taken care of in the last week, so here is what happened after the last blog.
On the last Saturday in May, my friend from bowling and ESPN commentator Randy Petersen was in town, so we played that day. I was playing pretty good, and then I hit a shot on the 16th hole and felt something in my left knee give like it was buckling. The pain went away, and I finished the round.
But on Sunday, my knee was really sore. I didn’t think I was going to be able to go to French Lick on Monday. I put a brace on it and went to French Lick to play the Pete Dye Course and then play the Ross course on Tuesday morning. I got to the range on Monday and tried to hit a few balls, and it just wasn’t working. So I improvised and came up with an arm swing to play that day.
The problem was every time I shifted my weight to the left leg on the follow-through, a sharp pain and what felt like my knee buckling occurred. I finished the day and headed home to get it looked at by a doctor.
I went to Ortho Indy on Thursday and saw Dr. Kollias and got some X-rays. He then sent me Friday morning to get an MRI to see if I had actually torn my meniscus or some ligaments. On Tuesday, I got the call from Dr. Kollias with good news, bad news.
The good news is there are no tears or damages to the ligaments or meniscus. The bad news is I had a bad bruise on the outside of my left knee that was causing some swelling and pain, and the big issue is a cyst in my tibia bone in which my knee sits atop and where all my weight is placed. So that was some relief, but I will have to address the cyst at some point in the future. There is still some discomfort there, especially when walking up hills and side slopes. I have been released to start playing again and will do so in the coming days.
Meanwhile back at French Lick, the new Dye course is very good and very hard depending on the tees you choose to play. We chose to play the course at 6,700 yards and found it very challenging. Pete found the 36 high and low spots and put a tee and green on those spots, so about every hole is either uphill or downhill.
The views are spectacular. The clubhouse sits atop the highest point and is an old, colonial-looking farm house from which you can see all around the course.
After we finished our first round, we decided to play a scramble from the back edge of every tee which equates to over 8,000 yards. We had two groups, so the first hole was a 519-yard par 4 downhill into the wind, and no one got it on the green in two. The course from the back tees has six par 4’s that are over 500 yards and has a 300-yard par 3 with junk left, a lake right and a layup area about the size of a small bathroom. To play your own ball from all the way back might take all day.
Rumor has it that the lowest score shot from the back tees is reportedly 86. We want to thank Jan Tellstrom, the professional, for taking good care of us on our visit and also to Dave Harner, the director of golf, for his hospitality. The fee to play the course is little salty at $350 per player, but your foursome does get a nice wooden box set with a bottle of whiskey, four shot glasses and four premium cigars.
My advice is to take the shot of whiskey before you pay the fee and then another shot before you tee off. It is definitely worth the trip to play – and don’t forget there is a casino there, too!
Last week on the Tour, Tiger showed that he still is the player to beat as he won the Memorial Tournament hosted by Jack Nicklaus. If you notice a trend here, Tiger seems to bring his best game to all the majors, obviously, but he really turns it on when he plays at Arnie’s Bay Hill tournament and at Jack’s Memorial tournament.
By the way, did you see the skins’ game they had at the Memorial? They had a chip-off to determine a winner between Jack, Tiger, Kenny Perry and Stewart Cink. Of course, Tiger chipped it in to win the most skins.
It has been one year since Tiger won a major and then had surgery, so I am going to go out on a limb and pick Tiger for the U.S. Open again as it is being played at Bethpage Black, which is extremely long and difficult, just how Tiger likes them.
Phil Mickelson also made his return this week at Memphis in preparation for the Open. Phil has been off tour since his wife, Amy, had been diagnosed with breast cancer.
Congratulations also go to Bedford native Craig Bowden, who qualified for the Open this week at Columbus, Ohio. If you recall, Craig came to the Indy 500 this year and has been friend of ours for a while. Craig made the cut at Bethpage the last time the Open was played there.
Back here at the Brickyard, the course conditions are awesome. Our superintendent, Jeff Stuart, and his staff have done an outstanding job of keeping the course in what I call tournament condition. We have the U.S. Senior Open qualifying at the end of this month and then the Indiana State Open the second week of July.
Remember, Brickyard Crossing is open to the public, and we have Twilight Golf with reduced greens fees daily beginning at 4 p.m. Check our Web site for upcoming specials.
The Brickyard Senior Series returns on June 18, hosted by our Pro Emeritus, Rollie Schroeder. Visit www.brickyardseniorgolfseries.com for more information. Don’t forget Father’s Day is coming up, and a great gift would be a round of golf for your father. Better yet: Book a tee time for you and your father and play on Father’s Day, Sunday, June 21!
Jeff Schroeder
PGA Head Professional
Brickyard Crossing
The Indy 500 is in the books, and congrats to Helio and Team Penske. It is back to golf here at the Brickyard, with a few events here in the next week or so.
A new event here at the Brickyard was completed this week, the Brickyard Crossing Senior Series hosted by Rollie Schroeder, our pro emeritus. This will be a monthly tournament for seniors to compete for prizes. More information on these events can be found at the Web site, www.brickyardseniorgolfseries.com.
The PGA Tour this week is in Texas at the Colonial, the Nationwide is in Raleigh, N.C., where we have couple of players with Brickyard ties competing. Chad Collins is back out on the road as you know if you have read his blog this week, and our old friend Jim Gallagher Jr. also is playing this week. Jim usually comes up for the race but called and said he was playing this week and wanted to stay home and practice. Another Hoosier professional on the Nationwide Tour, Craig Bowden from Bedford, stopped by last week to watch the Indy 500.
Our men’s and ladies’ clubs here at the Brickyard are in full swing with their seasons. The ladies played Wednesday, May 27, and the men have an event Saturday, May 30. If you would like more information on our clubs, visit our Web site at www.brickyardcrossing.com or give us a call at (317) 492-6572, and we will answer any of your questions.
This Monday, I will have the pleasure of playing the new Pete Dye course at French Lick, Ind. I have heard it is amazingly difficult and long. Rumor has it that the course record from the back tees (8,000 yards) is 86. Obviously, I will not be playing the back tees but hope to get a few photos of the views from the back tees.
The U.S. Senior Open qualifier is a month away and I need to find some game. So I need to get out do some practicing and especially do some stretching and walking. So don’t forget to get out hit some balls and play a round here at the Brickyard. Stay tuned for upcoming events and programs here at the Brickyard.
Jeff Schroeder
PGA Head Professional
Brickyard Crossing